Sri Lanka is recycling 30 per cent of its waste into fabric and brushes. Trischel Fabric, a subsidiary of MAS Holdings, has produced 4500 meters of fabric with yarn made of waste plastic bottles, including those collected from Sri Lanka’s beaches. MAS Holdings, a maker of intimate, sports and swimwear, has launched an initiative to collect beach plastic. Most of the brands MAS works with are expected to stop using virgin polyester raw materials by 2025.

Sri Lanka cricket team’s World Cup jersey in May 2019 was made with recycled yarn. It takes about ten PET bottles to produce enough yarn to make a jersey.

Companies around the world are implementing recycling solutions that are sustainable and business friendly. American start-up AlgiKnit makes fibers from kelp that can be spun into yarn. AlgiKnit offers a solution that can transform the highly polluting textile industry into a circular economy by using biomaterials. After having been used, this seaweed textile can serve as compost or animal feed. It also reduces the carbon footprint of the clothing industry, because no harmful fiber particles are lost during washing, such as is the case with polyester. The company is working on a prototype of a T-shirt and sneakers will be next.